SOLARIS (2002)

(November 2002, U.S.)

There have been almost no instances in which I've preferred an American remake of a foreign film to its predecessor. Most American filmmakers produce nothing more than cheap, second rate, knock-offs of what is considered a far superior piece of cinema. But like so many other things in life, there are always exceptions in which certain films, at the very least, are at an equal level of those they've copied. William Friedkin made a bold move with his existential film SORCERER (1977), a remake of the French-Italian film THE WAGES OF FEAR. Mike Nichols provided his own level of comic genius with THE BIRDCAGE (1996), a remake of the French film LA CAGE AUX FOLLES. Christopher Nolan delivered a very solid version of INSOMNIA (2002), a remake of the Norwegian film of the same name. I suppose there are others I could come up with if I took the time to do it, but the point I think I'm making is that every once in a great while, we in America get it right, or at least come very close to doing so.

I've seen Andrei Tarkovsky 1972 film SOLARIS, based on Polish author Stanisław Lem's original 1961 novel (which I've never read). If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't be able to effectively make my statement above. It's long, it's tedious, and requires great time and patience to follow. It's also intriguing, nonetheless, if for no other reason than the time of its release; the early 1970s that brought other high concept sci-fi think pieces as Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY and Lucas' THX-1138. Steven Soderbergh's version, reduced to a mere 98 minutes of film, takes the true essence and spirit of Lem's work to a level that, perhaps, the more common multiplex-moviegoing audience can relate to...or at least attempt to tolerate. The film is set almost entirely on a space station orbiting the planet of Solaris, providing flashbacks to the previous experiences of its main characters on Earth, primarily clinical psychologist Chris Kelvin (played by George Clooney) and his wife Rheya (played by Natascha McElhone). Chris has been summoned by his scientist friend Dr. Gibarian to come to the space station orbiting the planet Solaris to help him and his crew try and understand an unusual phenomenon taking place aboard their ship, but is unwilling to say more than that. Chris agrees to a solo mission to the mysterious planet as a last attempt to bring the crew home safely.

Arriving at the station, Chris immediately learns that his scientist friend committed suicide and most of the remaining crew have either disappeared or died under very bizarre circumstances. The first time Chris finally goes to sleep, he dreams of Rheya (now dead), reliving the day they met and some of the most pivotal and romantic times of their life together. When he's abruptly awakened, he discoverers Rheya in the bed with him, seemingly alive again. It's our understanding that a mysterious and powerful force emanating from Solaris has affected (or infected) the ship with the power of creating people who aren't supposed to be there, dead or not. For Chris, it's Rheya, who we learned committed suicide back on Earth. For other members of the crew, it's a twin brother or Gibrarian's little boy, who's supposed to be back home on Earth. Too shocked and terrified to think straight, Chris leads this version of Rheya into an escape pod and jettisons her into space. However, another version of her manifests itself and is on board the ship again. By all accounts, she feels like Rheya, thinks like her and remembers her own past instincts, including her suicidal tendencies, but only because these are the memories of her that live within Chris' mind and memory (she's suicidal because he remembers her as suicidal). Still, she lacks the true emotional attachments that would make her genuinely human. Her second version stays this time because, real or not, right or wrong, Chris is falling in love with her and sees her "resurrection" as a second chance to redeem his own life for ultimately leading Rheya to take her own life back on Earth. Chris is now forced to struggle with the questions of his own beliefs and memories, the reconciliation behind what he lost on Earth and also the ultimate purpose behind the planet itself.

As Solaris begins to increase its mass and pulls the space station closer toward the planet, the crew realizes that returning to Earth will be impossible. As they prepare a smaller space vehicle to escape, we suddenly begin to realize one or two truths about what we've witnessed, so far. Back on Earth, it would appear that Chris has returned to his normal life. When he cuts his thumb in the kitchen, the would immediately heals, thus suggesting that he never actually returned home and may be a copy of what he once was, as well. Opting to stay aboard the space station, it plummets toward Solaris and begins to fall apart, thus also suggesting that Chris will now experience his ultimate fate. That fate, however, brings a welcomed level of tranquility, as it appears that Rheya returns with assurances that she and Chris no longer need to function in terms of life and death, that second chances are possible, and all their sins of the past are forgiven.

Unlike the 1972 film, Steven Soderbergh knows how to get right to the point with his version of SOLARIS by fusing all the intellectual and mystical elements into the story without requiring much wait time to figure out what's happening aboard the ship. Like 2001, the story is slow, ambiguous, cerebral, confusing at times, and requires a level of cinematic patience to fully appreciate. But it's also a story strong on love and what drives our emotions behind it. We love our wife, our brother, our son and we may not know how to deal with our feelings about them if something goes wrong in life. The planet Solaris appears to understand these emotions and seeks to either maliciously take advantage of them, or offer its visitors the chance to redeem and change things about such snags in life. It's a psychologically-smart film for smart people who are (seemingly) capable of embracing high concept sci-fi without the convenience of laser guns and space battles. Those who can embrace it can develop meaningful discussions about it when it's over. Others, like the idiot walking behind me and my wife when we went to see it in the theater back in 2002, will say something stupid like, "I hated it. It was too slow and I didn't get it.", to which I will quietly say to my wife, "This is what people who don't know how to think once in a while at the movies will say about a movie like SOLARIS."

Favorite line or dialogue:

Chris Kelvin: "Earth. Even the word sounded strange to me now...unfamiliar. How long had I been gone? How long had I been back? Did it matter? I tried to find the rhythm of the world where I used to live. I followed the current. I was silent, attentive. I made a conscious effort to smile, nod, stand, and perform the millions of gestures that constitute life on Earth. I studied these gestures until they became reflexes again. But I was haunted by the idea that I remembered her wrong, and somehow I was wrong about everything."